Texas and region

Posted: December 8, 2011 - 12:01am

GEORGETOWN

The new suspect in a 1986 murder case that wrongfully sent a Texas man to prison for nearly 25 years is himself innocent and can explain why his DNA was detected on a bloody bandana found near the scene of the slaying, his attorney said Wednesday.

Mark Alan Norwood is charged with killing Christine Morton, who was beaten to death in bed at her home outside Austin in August 1986. Her husband, Michael, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison but released in October, after DNA testing not available at his original trial showed his wife’s and another man’s DNA on a bloody bandana found near the Mortons’ house.

Police say the DNA was Norwood’s, who worked as a carpet layer in and around Austin in 1986. He was arrested last month.

BRIEFLY ...

● AUSTIN — Austin students are outscoring their Dallas and Houston counterparts in national reading and math tests, according to a report released Wednesday.

● WHITNEY — Two deputies and a suspect are hospitalized with wounds after a domestic disturbance call to a home near a Central Texas lake climaxed in a shootout.

● JOURDANTON — Authorities say a man at a business next to a South Texas gun shop has suffered a facial wound after a bullet was accidentally fired through the shared wall.